DOMESTIC BREEDS OF SHEEP, 51 
moor, principally upon grass, but sometimes supplemented with a 
little hay. They can withstand a very wet climate. Only the show 
sheep receive grain or roots. 
Wrightson says, "The Dartmoor sheep of to-day are a large, long- 
wooled variety, rivaling in size the Cotswold, Lincoln, or Romney 
Marsh breeds." With the exception of their hardiness they have 
largely lost the characteristics of a mountain breed. They are pref- 
erably hornless, but the rams occasionally have short horns, about 
2 inches long and extending backward from the head. The face is 
gray, with black spots frequently about the muzzle and on the ears. 
Dun spots are objectionable. The wool is long, sometimes reaching 
a length of 15 inches in 12 months, of excellent quality, and very 
strong. It extends over the polls and well down over the hocks and 
knees, and a little appears upon the hind legs. Fleeces should weigh 
about 15 pounds. 
The ewes are excellent mothers and produce early lambs when re- 
moved to more favorable climates, but few fat lambs are produced 
in the Dartmoor. 
Wm. Cooper & Nephews imported 58 head of Dartmoors in 1909 
for John Rawlins, of Forest, Ontario. Soon afterwards these sheep 
were sold and taken to Utah and Wyoming. They greatly resemble 
a gray-faced Cotswold and are of about the same size as that breed. 
They are characteristically ewe-necked. The fleece is of exceptional 
length and quality, and the ringlets are close and distinct. The 
Dartmoor has been used for the production of extra long wool to a 
limited extent, and they seem especially suitable for this purpose. 
However, too few of this breed have been imported and not enough 
trials have been made to warrant any extended discussion as to their 
general fitness to American conditions. 
BLACK-FACED HIGHLAND. 
The Black-faced Highland is much famed in poetry and legend, 
and there are many explanations as to its origin. Among these are 
that the original stock was cast ashore from the Spanish Armada, an 
already overworked theory, and that they are the result of a cross 
between a sheep and a goat, something which has never been proved 
to exist, and from present knowledge seems impossible. Other theo- 
ries are that they came from the mountainous part of England to 
Perth and Dumbarton, and that the original flock was placed upon 
the estate of King James IV, in Ettrick Forest, about 1503. Either 
of these latter two theories is at least possible. At any rate, these 
black-faced sheep have been well known for a century and a half, 
and the dispute as to their origin would indicate that they had 
ranged the Highlands for a still longer period. 
